Era of Mist

Chapter 152: Chapter 151: Sacrificial Officer Wang Xingshun, Preparing for the Small Provincial Examination

”Okay, okay, sounds good! No problem!” Situ the Bald pulled a small notebook out of nowhere. ”By the way, let me interview you. How did the Lord Sacrificial Officer sing... erm, praise our prodigy? I’ll take some notes to add to the Orphanage’s hall of fame later.”

Director Chen was annoyed, then simply resigned. He sighed and said, ”The Lord Sacrificial Officer said that the young man’s calligraphy shows the lingering style of a great master.”

’The lingering style of a great master?’

Hearing that phrase, Shi Tiexin froze and blurted out, ”Wang Xingshun?”

”Oh?” Director Chen said, surprised. ”You actually know the Lord Sacrificial Officer’s name? However, out of respect, you shouldn’t say it so casually.”

Shi Tiexin was utterly stunned.

「Half an hour later.」

CLANK, CLANK. Shi Tiexin and Situ Zhennan sat side by side on the sky-rail, both lost in their own thoughts.

The nightscape of the Space City slid past the window, but Shi Tiexin’s brow was tightly furrowed.

He truly never imagined that he would hear that name again, not here, not like this.

’Wang Xingshun?’

’No wonder the Lord Sacrificial Officer showed me such favor. No wonder he said I had the ”lingering style of a great master.” I got that ”lingering style” directly from you!’

’Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.’

’But on second thought, these so-called ”world lines” are just different evolutions of the same world along different paths of possibility. My world line and the one from the Champion Scholar Stone diverged a hundred years ago. The number of changes over a century of separate evolution would be countless and profound.’

’The calligrapher who sold copybooks in that world line has become the high and mighty Lord Sacrificial Officer in this one. And his true teachings, something almost impossible for most people to access here, were bought in that other world line by a nobody who just climbed a wall to buy a book.’

’The unpredictability of life, the wonder of destiny... it’s truly beyond words.’

’Still, are the two Wang Xingshuns from the two world lines really the same person? Conception is a game of chance, after all. Change the time, change the position... even if you tried to repeat the act in precisely the same way, there’s a high probability the resulting child wouldn’t be the same one.’

’It’s very possible this Wang Xingshun is a ”brother” to the other one. Maybe his parents just had the same ideas, agonized over the dictionary, and ended up picking the same name and giving him the same upbringing. Of course, it’s also possible they really are the exact same person.’

’Forget it. Whether the two Wang Xingshuns are the same person isn’t important.’ Shi Tiexin had no desire to probe the mystical connections between world lines right now. He was just looking at his vision system, staring at the award emblem.

[Celestial Golden Light Melting Fluid. Reserve: 22]

Twenty-two!

The calligraphy award only gave him seventeen units of Golden Light, far less than what he’d received for tying for first place at Fengming First Middle School—only about a third of the amount. But no matter how little, it was enough for Shi Tiexin to continue allocating points. Looking at the twenty-two points he had, then at his Natural History and Biology skills, a smile slowly bloomed on Shi Tiexin’s face.

’A perfectionist’s dream!’

’Everything has to be neat and tidy!’

’My Speculation and Root Bone attributes can finally be secured.’

SLAP. Situ the Bald clapped Shi Tiexin on the shoulder. ”What’re you thinking about, smirking so smugly?”

”I was thinking... I need to borrow some money. I’ll use it to buy Body-Nourishing Essence Food so I can face the Small County Exam in peak condition.”

”Borrow money? Looks like you’ve made your decision, then. You’re not choosing the ’present’?”

”I’m no longer worried about my ’present’.” Shi Tiexin clenched his fist, brimming with a powerful self-confidence. ”Director Chen was right. I won’t be cooped up in Mu Yuan District forever; I will get out. The ten thousand points that made my heart pound with envy today might be nothing to me in the future. So...”

”So?”

”So,” SLAP. Shi Tiexin grabbed Situ Zhennan’s shoulder in turn and looked at the old bald man beside him. ”how about you spot me some cash... comrade?”

”Get lost!”

”But didn’t you say we’re all comrades?”

”I said, get lost!”

CLANK, CLANK. The sky-rail continued onward, seemingly without end.

The next few days were fulfilling and peaceful for Shi Tiexin. Surprisingly, no one tried to pull any dirty tricks or sabotage him.

—At the Meat Processing Plant—

”Step right up, take a look! Declared by the Lord Sacrificial Officer himself: the number one calligraphy talent in Tumu Castle, the foremost young master of the art! Custom, handmade calling cards, one point each! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime offer!” Little Dog Egg clung desperately to Tao Zhongming. ”For one point, you can’t go wrong! For one point, you can’t get scammed! For one point, you can buy yourself class, taste, and prestige! It’s a limited release, so get ’em while they’re hot!”

—At the Orphanage—

”Hello? Ah, President Liu, yes, this is Situ. What’s that? Oh, yes, that’s right, that was here. That was our Shi Tiexin. Oh? You’d like a piece of calligraphy? No problem, no problem at all! What would you like? ’Beckon Wealth and Receive Treasure’? Or maybe ’A Bushel of Gold a Day’? Neither? Then... you want him to copy a work report? No problem, no problem!”

The old bald man wore a fawning expression as he spoke into the phone. ”No charge! How could we possibly take your money? It’s just... well, we have a few kids here about to come of age, and I was wondering if your company had any openings. I could send them over to help—we’d even do it for free! ...Oh, I see. Yes, er... okay. Well, we’ll get that work report sent over to you right away.”

After hanging up, the old bald man gestured to Shi Tiexin. ”One work report. Write! And another thing, the little bit of fame you have now isn’t enough. I need you to become an absolute sensation at the Small County Exam! A sensation, understand? That means you’d better get on the Silver List, at the very least!”

—In the Secret Realm—

”Big Brother Tie, I’m coming in!” Little Dog Egg said with a serious expression. ”Even though this is just a sparring match, out of my reverence for the martial arts, I won’t hold back or go easy on you. Prepare yourself.”

Shi Tiexin took his stance. ”Bring it on.”

”Hah!”

SWOOSH! Si Chongtian was blindingly fast, his aura astonishing as he threw a punch. Under the intense pressure, Shi Tiexin continued to hone his basic fist techniques.

—In his private room—

Shi Tiexin lay on his bed, his mind calm and his breathing deep and steady. In the azure sky of his consciousness, six stars were already shimmering brightly.

At a certain moment, Shi Tiexin’s eyes snapped open. In the mystical diagram in his mind, the point of light representing the Champion Scholar Stone went completely dim, like a phone screen powering down after its battery died. Shi Tiexin knew that the information transfer from the Champion Scholar Stone had now completely exhausted its energy.

CRACKLE! The last few stars flew over and slammed into the progress bars for Mathematics and Rhetoric.

The progress bar for Mathematics flashed, reaching the ”Excellent” tier. Meanwhile, thanks to his experiences at the calligraphy competition, the Rhetoric bar shot up by a dozen-odd extra increments.

Six basic subjects were now Perfect in the first stage, and two were Excellent in the second stage.

Shi Tiexin took a deep breath. In his lower abdomen, the false core—now slightly larger than a soybean—pulsed gently. Over the past few days, he had invested nearly five hundred points to binge on low-grade Body-Nourishing Essence Food, bringing his essence nourishment level back to a high point.

’I’ve reached the absolute limit of what I can achieve for now.’

’So then, my opponents in the Small County Exam... are you ready to face the Iron Tyrant?’